Category:04 The Strife

700 Arcs before the Oath

Then came the Originals.

They came from within Emea, never speaking of their origin to any. Eight in number, the Originals were inspired by what they found. The fledgling world of Idalos was young and still developing. Sentient life blossomed as did the potential for creation. The Originals were beings glutted on the powers of Emea and set to work quickly claiming portions of the world as their own to develop, grow, and build. The Shay, knowing nothing of the Emean origins, worshiped the Originals as gods easily enough and created religious schism in their society. The Originals became smitten with the Shay and their industrious spirit, accepting their place at the head of their pantheon. From their worship, the Originals came to know the taste of devotion and the power it promised.

Anox, the most brutal of the Originals, a being of conquest and control looked to annihilate any opposition to the rule of his kind and found himself in conflict with The Verses. The Induk did not welcome the invaders. Rather, they called upon the Dragons and their own might in an attempt to exterminate or banish these aberrant creators from their lands. While it isn't clear who struck the first blow, catastrophic war enveloped Idalos between the two factions and would be the catalyst for some of the most monumental change Idalos had ever seen. Although outnumbered, the Originals devised a way to turn the tide. From their own essence they created lesser versions of themselves, eventually named the Immortals, who held their same chaotic abilities but narrowed to only a few specific domains. Accepted as divine servants, the Shay included these new beings into their worship and gave the Originals and their children the edge to turn the battle in their favor. The Immortals became invaluable tools in the war and a decisive victory for the Originals.

It was Anox that struck a fatal blow to the Induk Idalos in one such battle, forcing the ancient spirit to retreat into the planet and relinquish its hold over the world itself. The remaining Verses met their own ends or banishment at the hands of the Originals, their morale broken and their forces scattered.

More Immortals were created and the Originals first began to show the Fractures of their strain, cracks of light like a mirror splintering, upon their flesh. The Shay thrived under the attention of their masters and the Immortals settled into their new roles as stewards of the Original's empire. For a time, there was peace but calamity crept swiftly to eclipse it.